Stepping into the meeting Kamaru found an older man waiting as he sipped tea. Since he matched the description of the man Kamaru was suppose to meet he sat down across from him. They sized each other up for a second but in truth Kamaru felt like it was a meeting to discuss something with a professor of sorts as the man pulled out a book. As a waitress came by Kamaru dismissed the need for anything and the older gentleman just smiled dismissing her.
”Ishibashi, I have what you requested.” Kamaru stated putting something on the table and unfolding the cloth protecting it. It had been a rather easy request to go into the area and get the item, with only a few wild animals, nothing hostile and nothing weird it was a pretty normal mission Kamaru thought. As the man flipped through the book and muttered to himself looking at the object with some scrutiny Kamaru waited. After a few moments the man nodded and seemed satisfied.
”We never did agree on the exact term of payments so I’ll trade you.” he said finally looking behind Kamaru and nodding in the direction of the door. Someone entering and ordering a coffee to go had Kamaru looking at a man before looking back at Ishibashi who was writing something down. Kamaru not seeming to get it was slide a piece of paper.
”He’s suppose to be a city official but he’s not. Wait a bit and follow him and you’ll understand, go to this address afterwards to hear his story.” the man explained.
Kamaru stared at the man for a bit. Was this some con he was running due to being low on funds? It was a simple mission and not a lot of money but Kamaru couldn’t figure out if the guy was a little off or just messing with him. He did have the guy’s information so he could easily go to his place and find him if need be, he had been a resident in the city for several years so skipping town didn’t seem probable so he opted to see exactly what the man was talking about.
Leaving the item and following the man at a distance was easy enough. The man Kamaru watched seemed careful but mostly for people immediately around him. With his target walking down an alley had Kamaru looking around since he’d be secluded from the rest of the onlookers, climbing building and getting a top down view had Kamaru scratching his head since he walked in on something odd.
Someone else was holding the man’s coffee cup and drinking it. Granted he had a hand in the man’s center as he shook. Kamaru started to move in thinking it a very disturbing attack on the supposed city official when the body crumbled to the ground. Something gray and formless came with the man’s hand as the body collapsed. Not familiar with it Kamaru was on guard thinking it a jutsu he wasn’t familiar with until he tossed the blob to the ground and it formed a person. Kamaru paused on the ground as the new ‘person’ coughed and stood. The attacker motioned for him to follow and moved out of the alley as if on routine business.
With no one in the area Kamaru looked at the body. Or what was left of it. Kamaru wasn’t a medical professional or a ninja specializing in medical shinobi practices so he was a bit confused about what he was seeing. There was no blood, and it didn’t look like a body now, Kamaru wasn’t really sure what he was looking at. The skin looked course and translucent and in a way ‘scaly’. Kamaru moved out into the street and looked around finding a policeman and explained who he was and moved back into the area to show the beat cop to get the area cordoned off. What he found was a pile of tattered remains that more looked like scraps of garbage, clothes and something else. If Kamaru hadn’t seen it up close he wouldn’t have believed it either. Apologizing to the police officer about the incident and dismissing it as probably putting in too many hours got the policeman off again on his beat and Kamaru shaking his head. He wanted to go back and ask the man questions from the meeting but he did have an address.
The address was easy enough to find for Kamaru but bumping into someone leaving had him look at the man’s back after a second. As the man walked away he realized he looked a lot like the man he had seen that had order coffee before getting attacked or changed… he didn’t look the same after he reformed from a blob and this guy looked pretty down and out. At a distance Kamaru opted to follow him, unlike before this scraggly version seemed more content to make sure no one was following him on the streets. Fortunately he never bothered to look up at the rooftops of the buildings in the area.
Kamaru thought it odd to see him go into an alleyway, or rather go into an alleyway and cut his hair and change clothes. Walking up on the man after he had changed his appearance gave the man a startle. He looked a lot different though and in truth the clean shaven look and bowl cut hair style with a pony tail was odd to say the least. He didn’t look at homeless just odd in a different way.
”We need to ta-” Kamaru began before the man’s eyes got big and he bolted. Kamaru sighed watching him for a few seconds, this man definitely was a runner. Feeling a hand on his shoulder after a few steps and getting pulled off the ground had the man in a panic.
”I’ve done what you wanted! I haven’t told anyone! Please don’t hurt them!” the man stammered out in a panic.
Kamaru raised an eyebrow, ”Them?”
The story was not what Kamaru was expecting, explaining he had seen the man in a cleaned up version of himself get coffee and get attacked before changing forms and leaving behind something had the man leaning against the wall and sinking to the ground. After a bit of muttering about he wasn’t telling someone if they had already been found out seemed to justify telling Kamaru the whole story it seemed.
Koji Kitagawa had been a volunteer with the military turned simple low level city official, he had worked his way up to the lower ranks of mid level management when it happened. He visibly shook recalling being waked in the middle of the night at home in bed with his wife. Before he could do anything his vision went black. Getting a description of the coffee drinker of the duo Kamaru got the details it was the man that had kidnapped him. He gave Koji a simple task. Keep hiding and changing his appearance for the next month or his wife and children would be killed. If he told anyone and they were discovered Koji’s family would be killed by ‘his’ hands. Having only a few more days explained why Koji had been so desperate to escaped. Kamaru asked if his family was still safe and to Koji’s knowledge they were although his other version hadn’t been home that much explaining going on trips and only being home for short periods of time. Describing what the new Koji had turned into he paled a bit. Mentioning it was the head of his division didn’t seem dangerous until Koji explained why he thought it was a problem, he didn’t really have a relationship or know the man but he was an older man, single or divorced, and had access to sensitive information on major people in the country. Kamaru thought about the implication, was this just the setup for a job to steal information and steal it? Use it? Sell it? Kamaru dismissed it since he had to just stop things telling Koji to go home find his family and lay low for a few days.
Realization of spies in Stone looking for something wasn’t odd, there were spies everywhere Kamaru figured but to what end they wanted the information and for what made Kamaru wondering exactly what was going on.
Kamaru found the man’s address and checked out the house, he was definitely a bachelor now due to the mess in the house. Working backwards to the man’s office had Kamaru meeting him on the street. Looking at the man and at his ring finger, Kamaru nodded, ”You must be the ex. I wanted to talk to you about your ex-wife.” he explained. As the man shrugged and stated there was nothing to discuss Kamaru nodded and looked around. No one was around, the sudden punch to the stomach knocked the man back wondering what was going on. Kamaru explained the large amount of empty liquor bottles said something else about the man and the situation… unless he wasn’t who he looked like.
Kamaru was expecting an attack but what he got over the next few minutes surprised even him.
The impostor falling to his knees and someone diving at Kamaru on the empty side street wasn’t off. He knew an attack was coming, it coming from an older bespeckled white hair man took him by surprise, especially since Kamaru figured out very quickly the man was better at fighting and relentlessly attacked Kamaru having time to just defend and counter and still was getting pushed into a corner.
Kamaru’s focus seemed off making light of the fact his footing was off and he slipped, the fist connecting with his face exploded in fire sending him flying. As the man moved in the flash of lightning and thunder behind him had his eyes getting bigger. Kamaru had pulled him farther away from the fake version of a man. Wondeirng exactly what happened had him focus on Kamaru he exploded turning into a small log of wood. Cursing the man moved back towards his asset that he found scattered into pieces. Kamaru showing up carrying the log and putting it down watched the man look at the scattered pieces. Seeing parts Kamaru figured it was a puppet of some sort became more apparent.
”You god damn fool! You have any idea how far you’ve put this operation! Which Sennin do you report to you worthless brainless shit stain!!!” he barked.
Kamaru raised an eyebrow on how quickly that just escalated.
Kamaru’s mouth opened realizing the man had closed the distance his hands inside Kamaru’s abdomen. Unable to speak Kamaru realized the man had just attacked him with deadly speed and accuracy. As the body the man was holding exploded in smoke the man roared in fury. Kamaru hadn’t expected the man to attack him out of rage. He didn’t know who he was though and from the tone he seemed to actually be working for the village or be well connected. With nothing in the area after the man left except some of the puppet parts and the wooden log Kamaru dismissed the transformation and the wooden log in the bushes turned into a very broken and beaten up version of Kamaru. He was tired and had a lot of questions. The main one was what was happening in the village... And what all did that man in the coffee shop really know.
”Ishibashi, I have what you requested.” Kamaru stated putting something on the table and unfolding the cloth protecting it. It had been a rather easy request to go into the area and get the item, with only a few wild animals, nothing hostile and nothing weird it was a pretty normal mission Kamaru thought. As the man flipped through the book and muttered to himself looking at the object with some scrutiny Kamaru waited. After a few moments the man nodded and seemed satisfied.
”We never did agree on the exact term of payments so I’ll trade you.” he said finally looking behind Kamaru and nodding in the direction of the door. Someone entering and ordering a coffee to go had Kamaru looking at a man before looking back at Ishibashi who was writing something down. Kamaru not seeming to get it was slide a piece of paper.
”He’s suppose to be a city official but he’s not. Wait a bit and follow him and you’ll understand, go to this address afterwards to hear his story.” the man explained.
Kamaru stared at the man for a bit. Was this some con he was running due to being low on funds? It was a simple mission and not a lot of money but Kamaru couldn’t figure out if the guy was a little off or just messing with him. He did have the guy’s information so he could easily go to his place and find him if need be, he had been a resident in the city for several years so skipping town didn’t seem probable so he opted to see exactly what the man was talking about.
Leaving the item and following the man at a distance was easy enough. The man Kamaru watched seemed careful but mostly for people immediately around him. With his target walking down an alley had Kamaru looking around since he’d be secluded from the rest of the onlookers, climbing building and getting a top down view had Kamaru scratching his head since he walked in on something odd.
Someone else was holding the man’s coffee cup and drinking it. Granted he had a hand in the man’s center as he shook. Kamaru started to move in thinking it a very disturbing attack on the supposed city official when the body crumbled to the ground. Something gray and formless came with the man’s hand as the body collapsed. Not familiar with it Kamaru was on guard thinking it a jutsu he wasn’t familiar with until he tossed the blob to the ground and it formed a person. Kamaru paused on the ground as the new ‘person’ coughed and stood. The attacker motioned for him to follow and moved out of the alley as if on routine business.
With no one in the area Kamaru looked at the body. Or what was left of it. Kamaru wasn’t a medical professional or a ninja specializing in medical shinobi practices so he was a bit confused about what he was seeing. There was no blood, and it didn’t look like a body now, Kamaru wasn’t really sure what he was looking at. The skin looked course and translucent and in a way ‘scaly’. Kamaru moved out into the street and looked around finding a policeman and explained who he was and moved back into the area to show the beat cop to get the area cordoned off. What he found was a pile of tattered remains that more looked like scraps of garbage, clothes and something else. If Kamaru hadn’t seen it up close he wouldn’t have believed it either. Apologizing to the police officer about the incident and dismissing it as probably putting in too many hours got the policeman off again on his beat and Kamaru shaking his head. He wanted to go back and ask the man questions from the meeting but he did have an address.
The address was easy enough to find for Kamaru but bumping into someone leaving had him look at the man’s back after a second. As the man walked away he realized he looked a lot like the man he had seen that had order coffee before getting attacked or changed… he didn’t look the same after he reformed from a blob and this guy looked pretty down and out. At a distance Kamaru opted to follow him, unlike before this scraggly version seemed more content to make sure no one was following him on the streets. Fortunately he never bothered to look up at the rooftops of the buildings in the area.
Kamaru thought it odd to see him go into an alleyway, or rather go into an alleyway and cut his hair and change clothes. Walking up on the man after he had changed his appearance gave the man a startle. He looked a lot different though and in truth the clean shaven look and bowl cut hair style with a pony tail was odd to say the least. He didn’t look at homeless just odd in a different way.
”We need to ta-” Kamaru began before the man’s eyes got big and he bolted. Kamaru sighed watching him for a few seconds, this man definitely was a runner. Feeling a hand on his shoulder after a few steps and getting pulled off the ground had the man in a panic.
”I’ve done what you wanted! I haven’t told anyone! Please don’t hurt them!” the man stammered out in a panic.
Kamaru raised an eyebrow, ”Them?”
The story was not what Kamaru was expecting, explaining he had seen the man in a cleaned up version of himself get coffee and get attacked before changing forms and leaving behind something had the man leaning against the wall and sinking to the ground. After a bit of muttering about he wasn’t telling someone if they had already been found out seemed to justify telling Kamaru the whole story it seemed.
Koji Kitagawa had been a volunteer with the military turned simple low level city official, he had worked his way up to the lower ranks of mid level management when it happened. He visibly shook recalling being waked in the middle of the night at home in bed with his wife. Before he could do anything his vision went black. Getting a description of the coffee drinker of the duo Kamaru got the details it was the man that had kidnapped him. He gave Koji a simple task. Keep hiding and changing his appearance for the next month or his wife and children would be killed. If he told anyone and they were discovered Koji’s family would be killed by ‘his’ hands. Having only a few more days explained why Koji had been so desperate to escaped. Kamaru asked if his family was still safe and to Koji’s knowledge they were although his other version hadn’t been home that much explaining going on trips and only being home for short periods of time. Describing what the new Koji had turned into he paled a bit. Mentioning it was the head of his division didn’t seem dangerous until Koji explained why he thought it was a problem, he didn’t really have a relationship or know the man but he was an older man, single or divorced, and had access to sensitive information on major people in the country. Kamaru thought about the implication, was this just the setup for a job to steal information and steal it? Use it? Sell it? Kamaru dismissed it since he had to just stop things telling Koji to go home find his family and lay low for a few days.
Realization of spies in Stone looking for something wasn’t odd, there were spies everywhere Kamaru figured but to what end they wanted the information and for what made Kamaru wondering exactly what was going on.
Kamaru found the man’s address and checked out the house, he was definitely a bachelor now due to the mess in the house. Working backwards to the man’s office had Kamaru meeting him on the street. Looking at the man and at his ring finger, Kamaru nodded, ”You must be the ex. I wanted to talk to you about your ex-wife.” he explained. As the man shrugged and stated there was nothing to discuss Kamaru nodded and looked around. No one was around, the sudden punch to the stomach knocked the man back wondering what was going on. Kamaru explained the large amount of empty liquor bottles said something else about the man and the situation… unless he wasn’t who he looked like.
Kamaru was expecting an attack but what he got over the next few minutes surprised even him.
The impostor falling to his knees and someone diving at Kamaru on the empty side street wasn’t off. He knew an attack was coming, it coming from an older bespeckled white hair man took him by surprise, especially since Kamaru figured out very quickly the man was better at fighting and relentlessly attacked Kamaru having time to just defend and counter and still was getting pushed into a corner.
Kamaru’s focus seemed off making light of the fact his footing was off and he slipped, the fist connecting with his face exploded in fire sending him flying. As the man moved in the flash of lightning and thunder behind him had his eyes getting bigger. Kamaru had pulled him farther away from the fake version of a man. Wondeirng exactly what happened had him focus on Kamaru he exploded turning into a small log of wood. Cursing the man moved back towards his asset that he found scattered into pieces. Kamaru showing up carrying the log and putting it down watched the man look at the scattered pieces. Seeing parts Kamaru figured it was a puppet of some sort became more apparent.
”You god damn fool! You have any idea how far you’ve put this operation! Which Sennin do you report to you worthless brainless shit stain!!!” he barked.
Kamaru raised an eyebrow on how quickly that just escalated.
Kamaru’s mouth opened realizing the man had closed the distance his hands inside Kamaru’s abdomen. Unable to speak Kamaru realized the man had just attacked him with deadly speed and accuracy. As the body the man was holding exploded in smoke the man roared in fury. Kamaru hadn’t expected the man to attack him out of rage. He didn’t know who he was though and from the tone he seemed to actually be working for the village or be well connected. With nothing in the area after the man left except some of the puppet parts and the wooden log Kamaru dismissed the transformation and the wooden log in the bushes turned into a very broken and beaten up version of Kamaru. He was tired and had a lot of questions. The main one was what was happening in the village... And what all did that man in the coffee shop really know.